“In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things,”- Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, n. 120

Following the Church’s teachings, the Church of St. John the Evangelist has always had a deep interest in providing the best possible instruments for its worship space. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded,

“Music and song are more than an embellishment (perhaps even unnecessary) of worship; they are themselves part of the liturgical action. Solemn sacred music with choir, organ, orchestra and the singing of the people, is not therefore a kind of addition that frames the liturgy and makes it more pleasing, but an important means of active participation of worship. The organ has always been considered and rightly so, the king of musical instruments, because it take up all the sounds of creation---as was just said—gives resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation. By transcending the merely human sphere, as all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ’s great range of timbre, from piano through to a thundering fortissimo, makes it an instrument superior to all others. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of human life. The manifold possibilities of the organ in some way remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God.”- Blessing the New Organ at the Regensburg’s Alte Kapelle, September 13, 2006

The Rieger-Kloss Organ, Opus 3721

Our large four manual Pipe Organ, donated by a generous gift, was built by Rieger-Kloss of the Czech Republic, which incorporates, as a separate Antiphonal Organ, the parish’s former main instrument built in the 1930’s by the Wicks Company of Highland, Illinois. This constitutes a total of 63 pipe ranks and 3,858 pipes serving the liturgies in our main church.

The Rieger-Kloss Moveable Positive

This beautiful instrument, composed of 4 pipe ranks and a four octave range keyboard, provides music to our daily masses in the chapel, in magnificent syntony with the acoustics of the space. It fulfills both the functions of singing accompaniment and of solo playing.

The Bösendorfer 225

This Viennese 7’4” grand has a very wide dynamic sound range, which results from its unique design and hand-crafted construction. It can produce many different colors of sound, allowing the pianist to play subtle nuances from the softest Pianissimo to the loudest Fortissimo. The Model 225 has four additional sub-bass keys, extending not only the bass range of the piano to bottom F, but also providing a larger soundboard to produce more volume when required to do so. The fine rich sound of this piano becomes one with the liturgical action, inspiring our community while it joins in prayer. This piano at St. John the Evangelist is in its own class as well. Coming from Bösendorfer, New York (piano maker’s first exclusive international showroom outside of Vienna) this unique instrument distinguishes itself with original ivory keys and its discreet brown re-finishing job provided to make this instrument a living, breathing extension of the St. John’s own enviroment.

The Young Chang G-185 Our former 6’1” main church’s piano is now serving in the Chapel. In addition to the positive organ, this piano animates our daily liturgies bringing new life to the community’s prayer.